Space 776 is excited to present Engaging Reality: People and Spaces- a solo exhibition of paintings by Ryan Schroeder.

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Through the painting process, Schroeder explores aspects of reality, including its abject elements. During his encounter with such a place, he seeks to engage and examine not only its physical characteristics but also his personal response to them. His masterful use of color, texture, and composition that delves into the nostalgic haunting beauty of abandoned spaces evokes very powerful emotions. The artist describes his paintings as “relics whose surfaces have been distressed in a manner that parallels the nature of the external object to which they are referring”.

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Interested in the relationships between figures, and their surroundings, Schroeder considers himself a voyeur to these scenes; watching quietly from a distance. His works often depict disheveled domestic spaces, engaging themes of chaos, loss, and mental health. He is interested in the idea of cultural erasure, by way of war, socioeconomic changes, the outsourcing of jobs, and deindustrialization.

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I am interested in the idea of subtraction; the removal of material things from a place, or the removal of individuals from their dwellings. Using dilapidated interiors as a tableau, I seek to challenge the parameters of taste. In these works, I consider where abstraction and representation meet. I think of these disheveled domestic spaces as psychological echo chambers. - Ryan Schroeder